The delegation was led on the
courtesy visit by its President, Rev Dr Samson Olasupo Ayokunle.

At the meeting, CAN made five
demands in a letter delivered to Osinbajo.

The demands bothered on the
following: “Change of obnoxious curriculum that demands students to study
Islamic Arabic Studies;

“Arrest and prosecute murderous
herdsmen;

“Arrest and prosecute those who
called for the expulsion of Igbos;

“Turn our youths into
Entrepreneurs;

“Stop kidnapping on our roads.”

Below is full text of the speech
by Ayokunle:

“Your Excellency Sir,

The leadership of Christian
Association of Nigeria, the umbrella body for all Christian churches in Nigeria
is here today to pay you a goodwill visit and to pray for the speedy recovery
of the President of our nation, President Muhammadu Buhari so that he might be
able to come back home and continue with his leadership responsibilities of
this country to the good of all. It is our prayer that there would be
miraculous intervention in his healing and all praises shall be to God.

This is our sacred duty as fellow
human beings who can also fall sick and as Christians who value so much the
life of all living creatures, especially human beings.

On the other hand, we want to
commend your Excellency for doing your best to see that no vacuum is created by
the team left behind by the President in the governance of the nation. We are
watching the dexterity with which you are leading others to carry out
government business with sense of admiration and thanks to God. We commend your
submission to your principal and your humility in service. May God cause every
grace to abound towards you so that you might be able to hold fort better each
day until the President returns in the name of Jesus. Please be assured of our
prayers always.”

Obnoxious, divisive and ungodly
secondary school curriculum.

We are here to point your
attention to a time-bomb, obnoxious, divisive and ungodly secondary school curriculum
that the Federal Ministry of Education is introducing into our schools and of
which we had earlier complained to the Presidency. Then, if I am not mistaking,
it was suspended but has again been re-introduced without any review at all.
This curriculum the brain-child of Nigerian Educational Research Council, an
agency of the Federal Ministry of Education. To us in Christian Association of
Nigeria, it’s introduction is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good for so
many reasons. Lead a State has started implementing it already and Christians
that are more on the receiving side of it are already crying fowl because of
its potential dangers now or in the future.

In this curriculum, Islamic and
Christian Religious Studies will no longer be studied in schools as subjects on
their own but as themes in a civic education. This is undermine the sound
mitral values that these two subjects had imparted in the past to our children
which had made us to religiously and ethnically co-exist without any tension.
It was some three or two decades ago when our education planners started
removing the teaching of religious values through the cancellation of morning
devotion in schools that all these violence by youths in different forms came
on board. I was in a meeting yesterday with some Muslim leaders where one of
them also expressed his fears about the dangers in this new curriculum. As
prophets to the nation, we demand a complete withdraw and ban of this
curriculum. If allowed to be implemented, it would lead us to a godless nation
with violence and all forms of ungodliness as the order of the day.

Furthermore sir, this curriculum
went ahead to introduce Islamic Arabic Studies in another section together with
French and made one of the two compulsory for the student. You are aware that
we have very low percentage of French teachers in all our secondary schools in
Nigeria. I am sure that over 80% of our secondary schools do not have French
teachers at all but have Arabic teachers. The implication is that Christian
students would have no choice than to study Arabic. If a Christian student
voluntarily goes to study Islamic Religious Studies, there is nothing bad in
that because some of us in both religions had done that before for better
understanding, however, where the student is tactically forced into studying it
because the alternative subject does not have teacher to teach it, it is a
great problem tending to Islamization.

Still in this curriculum, Islamic
Religious Knowledge was equally made available as a subject in another section
without any corresponding availability of Christian Religious Knowledge. Is
this not a divisive curriculum that can set the nation on fire? Is this fair to
millions of Christians in this nation? A Christian student in a secondary
school in Kwara State had the body lacerated with cane by the Arabic Teacher because
the pupil refused to do Arabic Studies when French Teacher was not available
and Christian Religious Knowledge, Hebrew or Greek were not part of the options
at all. If we are going to do pilgrimage together as a nation, there must be
fair play, mutual respect for one another and justice which can be brought about
by different arms of government. We demand for justice from the government on
this matter very quickly. We would request for a return to the curriculum we
were using before this dangerous one which did not produce insurgents or a
wrongly indoctrinated Nigerians. A stitch in time saves nine.

Bring Murderous Herdsmen and
Kidnappers to Book

You are aware sir how the
rampaging Herdsmen have been decimating the lives of farmers in this nation
from the North to the South, the East and the West. Southern Kaduna is not
totally free from their grip up till now. Killing and maiming of farmers
continue in Benue, Enugu, Abraka in Delta State just to mention a few. The most
painful thing is that we are seeing their victims without the seriousness from
the law enforcement agents to arrest and successfully prosecute the murderous
herdsmen. This has encouraged them to continue in their killing and kidnapping
spree with reckless abandon.

Don’t we have a competent government
in place with all the necessary law enforcement apparatus to ensure law and
order? This government has to do more than what you have done presently to
bring these criminals to Book. They had deemed the hopes of many and caused
unprecedented sorrow in many homes. Please sir, do something to the activities
of herdsmen before they destroy almost all Nigerians or before everybody would
look for weapons for self defence. The sources of their weapons must be probed.

We thank the Police and DSS for
their recent breakthrough in apprehending some kidnappers around the country.
This effort must be sustained for safety of all of us in our movements for our
daily bread. We urge you to call the attention of Kogi State Governor and the
Inspector General of Police to the kidnapping ring on Lokoja-Okene Road,
Lokoja-Kabba Road and Abuja-Kaduna Road. Every week, several travellers are
kidnapped on these roads. The feelers we have from those who got set free from
them after the payment of huge ransom was that from the kidnappers’
conversations, the Police and the Community Leaders are partners with the
kidnappers in the evil act. These two groups receive their own share from
kidnapping. We suspect that the money amassed from kidnapping may still be used
to cause further havoc by the terrorists perpetrating this act. We are hopeful
that through your intervention and our prayer backing, there would be reprieve
for Nigerians.

Ultimatum from some Northern
Youths and an Elder for the Igbos to vacate the North.

We are so disappointed to hear
the ultimatum of hate made by some Northern Youths that the Easterners of Igbo
extraction should leave every part of Northern Nigeria within three months. We
condemn such statement in strong terms and we see it as divisive, misguided,
ethnocentric and unconstitutional. We urge that the law enforcement agents
should be directed by you to go after those behind it whether young or old. It
is a reasonable statement that no amount of previous provocation can justify.
We commend you for talking tough on this dangerous statement but still urge sir
that you get them arrested as Kanu, the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra
was arrested and prosecuted. We believe in one indivisible Nigeria where our
diversities can be explored for growth and development. We must be tolerant of
one another and co-exist in love.

Youth Unemployment

Youth unemployment is another
development of great concern in our nation. We urge your government to pay more
attention to this issue by creating investment friendly environment that would
absolve millions of youth roaming the streets daily without job or hope for
tomorrow. Industrial Estates should be created as the late sage Chief Obafemi
Awolowo did in Lagos which brought many industries to Lagos and is still the
life wire of Lagos State economy till today and a major employer of labour. If
this is done, kidnapping and other violent crimes would reduce and there would
be tranquillity in the country.

We would appreciate that from
time to time you would create time to see the leadership of CAN for progressive
discussion like this and prayers.

Thank you very much sir for your time and patience.”

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That has always been the case when a bias and unqualified northerner is made education minister. Instead of formulating policies that will bring unity and move our education forward, they will bring all kinds of negative policies that will do us no good. Take a look on quota system policy. A system practice only in Nigeria that has made our education a laughing stock in the eyes of other nations, creating unnecessary tension thereby giving people the room to complain.